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By Jake Donovan - Never underestimate the heart of a warrior.
Red-hot prospect Delvin Rodriguez made this mistake when he faced Jesse Feliciano last March. So too did Tournament of Contenders nearly a year prior, heading into the rubber match between Feliciano and their fighter Alfonso Gomez.
You'd think by that point, Kermit Cintron and his handlers would have recognized an optional defense against Feliciano as little more than a stay busy fight before a planned unification match with Paul Williams.
The three bouts producing three very different results, but all featured the same after-school lesson: sleeping on Jesse Feliciano can cost you.
Rodriguez' 10-fight winning streak was brought to a screeching halt after he was flattened in eight rounds after being up early.
Gomez wound up 1-1-1 in his three fight series after being held to an eight-round draw. The difference in this fight was that Feliciano was 2-4-1 heading in.
While Cintron emerged victorious, he struggled far more in his November 2007 bout than in any other victory, suffering a crucial injury in escaping with a stoppage win that many felt ended too soon.
Perhaps fringe junior middleweight contender Andrey Tsurkan knows the score by now, as he prepares to face Feliciano in tonight's ESPN2-televised main event. All Jesse knows is that he's ready for the best available version of his opponent, something he expects to be the case from here on out. [details]
Red-hot prospect Delvin Rodriguez made this mistake when he faced Jesse Feliciano last March. So too did Tournament of Contenders nearly a year prior, heading into the rubber match between Feliciano and their fighter Alfonso Gomez.
You'd think by that point, Kermit Cintron and his handlers would have recognized an optional defense against Feliciano as little more than a stay busy fight before a planned unification match with Paul Williams.
The three bouts producing three very different results, but all featured the same after-school lesson: sleeping on Jesse Feliciano can cost you.
Rodriguez' 10-fight winning streak was brought to a screeching halt after he was flattened in eight rounds after being up early.
Gomez wound up 1-1-1 in his three fight series after being held to an eight-round draw. The difference in this fight was that Feliciano was 2-4-1 heading in.
While Cintron emerged victorious, he struggled far more in his November 2007 bout than in any other victory, suffering a crucial injury in escaping with a stoppage win that many felt ended too soon.
Perhaps fringe junior middleweight contender Andrey Tsurkan knows the score by now, as he prepares to face Feliciano in tonight's ESPN2-televised main event. All Jesse knows is that he's ready for the best available version of his opponent, something he expects to be the case from here on out. [details]
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